Politics this week

Barack Obama started a four-day European tour in Poland. At an aircraft hangar, where American and Polish troops serve together, Mr Obama said he would ask Congress for $1 billion to finance troop rotations, expand training programmes and joint exercises aimed at increasing America’s military presence in Europe following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Poland’s president promised to increase spending on defence to 2% of GDP. See article

In Poland Mr Obama met Petro Poroshenko, the newly elected president of Ukraine, and pledged American support for efforts to stabilise his country. Fighting between pro-Russian separatists and government forces raged in the east of Ukraine. America is to provide Ukraine with night-vision goggles, body armour and communications equipment.

The leaders of the G7 industrialised powers called on Russia to speed up the withdrawal of troops from the border with Ukraine. They were meeting in Brussels, having switched the location from the Russian resort of Sochi.

The mess over the potential appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission got nastier. A broad German coalition wants Mr Juncker, the candidate of the party grouping that won the European Parliament elections, to get the job. But David Cameron, the British prime minister, is leading the charge among those determined to block Mr Juncker, regarding him as an alienating federalist. See article

King Juan Carlos decided to abdicate. He has been Spain’s monarch since 1975, when he was central to the country’s transition to democracy. In 1981 he urged Spaniards to back the elected government instead of a military coup. But he has recently become out of touch, and was criticised for hunting elephants during Spain’s austerity drive. His son, Felipe, will now wear the crown. See article

A united front

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, named a cabinet of technocrats that has been endorsed by both main Palestinian groups, his own secular-minded Fatah and the Islamists of Hamas. Western governments, including America’s, were cautiously minded to engage with the unity government, but Israel was against doing so. American congressmen were also loth to embrace a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, which has been deemed a terrorist group. See article

Syria’s Bashar Assad was re-elected president in a poll that took place in only half the country amid a boycott by the rebel opposition. According to official figures he won 89% of the vote on a turnout of 73%. See article

Khalifa Haftar, a former Libyan general who has been leading a campaign against Islamist militias in Benghazi and who has called for the country’s fledgling parliament in Tripoli to be dissolved, survived a suicide-bombing. See article

Just a lot of hot air?

Barack Obama introduced a far-reaching proposal to cut carbon emissions from American power plants. The goal is to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 from the level they were at in 2005 and allow states to develop their own plans to reach varying set targets. The measures will wallop the coal industry and almost certainly face legal challenges. See article

America swapped five prisoners held in Guantánamo for an American soldier who was captured in 2009 by a group linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The deal was controversial. Rewarding kidnappers will encourage more kidnappings of Americans, many said. Mr Obama said he wanted to leave no man behind on the battlefield. See article

Eric Shinseki resigned as head of the Department of Veteran Affairs, amid a scandal about the poor treatment of former service members in veterans’ hospitals. Although divided on other issues, a poll this week found 97% of Americans agreeing the scandal was “serious”. See article

Joni Ernst won the Republican Senate primary in Iowa. After a feisty campaign, in which she said she would cut pork like she once castrated pigs, Ms Ernst is well-placed to capture a Democratic seat. See article

The beaches are open

Thailand’s new military rulers lifted a night-time curfew in three tourist resort towns. The curfew remains in force in the rest of the country. The junta also issued several emergency economic measures, including a price cap on fuel, and said an election would not be held for at least a year. Supporters of the ousted government continued to hold small protests.

In India police used water cannon on protesters in Lucknow outraged over the recent gang-rape of two teenage girls, who were found hanged. Police indifference to violence against women has become a hot issue among India’s middle class.

Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial capital, was on high alert after the leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was arrested in London on money-laundering charges. Altaf Hussain has lived in London since the early 1990s but his power base remains in Karachi, where he addresses fervent supporters via telephone over loudspeakers. Most shops closed on news of Mr Hussain’s arrest. See article

China stepped up security measures on the 25th anniversary of the massacre of democracy activists in Tiananmen Square. Tens of thousands of people attended a rally in Hong Kong (above) to commemorate the killings. See article

Default lines

Argentina took another step towards regaining access to international capital markets for the first time since its 2001 default, by agreeing a deal with the Paris Club of official creditors. A dispute with private creditors rumbles on. See article

Salvador Sánchez Cerén was sworn in as president of El Salvador. The former guerrilla pledged to improve security in the country, following the apparent collapse of a truce between rival street gangs.

The Canadian government introduced a bill on prostitution, after the Supreme Court decided last year that existing laws forced sex workers to operate in unsafe environments. The new law, which targets the purchasers of sexual services, was described by critics as “draconian”. See article

With days to go until the start of the football World Cup on June 12th in Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff defended the country’s last-minute rush to complete stadiums. “Nobody does a (subway) in two years,” Ms Rousseff told reporters. “Well, maybe China.” See article